Born into slavery in 1855 as Sarah Elisabeth Jacobs, she was the second child of seven to Oliver and Harriet Jacobs. Sarah went on to become the first Negro woman to be granted a patent, № 322177 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, for her invention of the folding "Cabinet Bed" on July 14, 1885.
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| Sarah Goode |
Sarah grew up in Ohio. According to Census records, her father was a carpenter. Her family gained their freedom at the end of the Civil War in 1865. By 1870, her family had moved to Chicago where Sarah met and married Archibald "Archie" Goode around 1880.
Archie, who was originally from Wise County, Virginia would have six children with Sarah, of whom three would live to adulthood. He described himself in the records as a "stair builder" and an upholsterer. She and Archibald opened a furniture store, where they would eventually sell the folding beds she had invented. Many of Sarah Goode's customers, mostly working-class, lived in small apartments and didn't have much space for furniture, including beds.
As a solution to the problem, Goode invented a Cabinet Bed, which she described as a "folding bed." When the bed was not being used, it could serve as a roll-top desk, complete with compartments for stationery and other writing supplies.
Sarah E. Goode died on April 8, 1905 and is buried in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.
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| Goode's "Cabinet Bed" |
Legacy:
Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy a Chicago Public School at: 7651 South Homan Avenue. (STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). The Goode Academy is one of five CPS Early College STEM Schools which opened for the 2012-2013 school year.
In 1919, a cramped San Francisco resident named William Murphy would update Goode’s space-saving bed with his own patent, though Murphy’s invention folded into a wall.
Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.
UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE
SARAH E. GOODE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.
CABINET-BED.
SPECIFICATION forming part of
Letters Patent N0. 322177, dated July 14. 1885. Application filed November 12,
1883. (No model.)
To all whom it may concern.
Be it known that I, SARAH E.
GOODE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of
Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement
in Cabinet-Beds, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact
description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part
of this specification.
This invention relates to
that class of sectional bedsteads adapted to be folded together when -not in
use, so as to occupy less space, and made generally to resemble some article of
furniture when so folded.
The objects of this invention
are, first, to provide a folding bed of novel construction, adapted, when
folded together, to form a desk suitable for office or general use; second, to
provide for counterbalancing the weight of the folding sections of the bed, so
that they may be easily raised or lowered in folding or unfolding the bed;
third, to provide for holding the hinged or folding sections securely in place
when the bed is unfolded, and, fourth, to provide an automatic auxiliary
support for the bedding at the middle when the bed is un folded.
My invention consists in the
arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described, and pointed out
in the claims.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure l is a perspective View of my improved folding bed folded together so as
to form a desk, which is shown open. Fig. 2 is a partial vertical sectional
view of the same, showing the desk closed. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional
view of the bed unfolded. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the same on line m x in
Fig. 3. Figs. 5 and 6 are views of portions of the bed in detail, referred to
hereinafter.
Like parts are indicated by
similar letters of reference throughout the several views.
The main frame of the bed I
make in three sections, A B C. The center or stationary section, A, consists of
a stout rectangular frame, of a length corresponding to the width of the bed,
and of sufficient width to form, in connection with the folding sections B and
C, when folded together thereon, a receptacle large enough to contain the
necessary bedding. The folding sections B C are hinged to the stationary
section A on opposite sides thereof, so that when unfolded the stationary
section A becomes the middle portion of the bed, while the folding sections B C
form the respective end portions thereof, the width of the stationary section A
being thus included in the length of the bed when unfolded. By this well-known
construction a full-length bed 6o may be obtained which will occupy but little
vertical space when folded up. The hinged or folding sections B C are
preferably constructed so as to form equal halves of the upright box which
contains the bedding when the bed is folded, and they may be provided with
suitable panels and trimmings to repre sent the lower part of an ordinary office-desk.
The section B, which forms
the head portion of the bed when unfolded, I provide with an 7o extended piece,
a., which projects over the top of the other folding section, C, when the bed
is folded, and which forms the head-board of the bed when unfolded. The back
portion, I), of section B is also extended, (see Figs. 2 and3,) 7 5 and by the
addition of suitable end pieces, c c, and top board, d, a receptacle, D, is
formed, into which I place the usual complement of pigeon-holes and drawers
found in an ordinary office-desk. The desk D thus formed is provided at the
front with a cover, c, of any suitable form. I prefer to use an ordinary
cylinder cover, as shown in Fig. 2. The head-board a, which also serves as the
bottom or table of the desk, is preferably constructed with its center portion
adapted to slide in and out, whereby a greater amount of table surface for the
desk may be provided by drawing out the sliding portion a', as shown in Fig. l.
The pieces o c, which form the ends of the desk also serve as braces for the
head-board a, thus making a very strong as well as a neat construction. When
the bed is folded, the headboard extends over the folding section C and rests
partly thereon. The desk Dis thus uniformly supported over the other portions
of the bed, which when so folded become converted into an ordinary office-desk-
In order that the folding sections B C may be easily folded or unfolded I
provide a counter rooter-balance in the form of springs, the tension of which
is adapted to act against the weight of the said folding sections as they are
raised or lowered in folding or unfolding the bed. For this purpose I prefer to
use flat springs f f, (see Figs. 3 to 6,) secured at one end to the inside of
the rectangular frame of stationary sections A, the free end of said springs
passing through clips or slides g g, secured to the inside of the bottom of the
respective folding sections B C. Any desired number of these springs may be used
to secure the proper degree of tension. Being attached to the inside of the
respective sections, they are completely covered by the bedding, and therefore
do not interfere in any way with the other working parts of the bed. The
bedding of the bed is supported, in the usual manner, by a suspension-support
secured at each end to the respective folding sections of the bed. For this
purpose I preferably use au ordinary wovenwire spring or mattress, which is
secured at each end to suitable cross-pieces, in the folding sections B C.
In order that the woven-wire
spring may have additional support at the center when the bed is in use, I
provide a yielding support, E, adapted to be automatically raised up to support
the woven-wire spring when the bed is unfolded, and to be lowered automatically
into the stationary section when the bed is folded. This yielding support E
(see Figs. 3, 4, and 6) consists of a platform, 7c, carrying a series of coiled
springs, l, said platform k being suspended by links or arms m from the side
boards, n, of the respective fold ing sections B C, so that as the sections B C
are lowered the platform k is raised, and vice versa. The coiled springs l are
thus brought up to and form a support for the woven-wire spring h when the bed
is unfolded, and are automatically lowered out of the way when the bed is
folded.
In order that the folding
sections B C may be rigidly held in place when the bed is unfolded, and thus
keep the suspended bedding support stretched when the bed is in use, I provide
at each side of the bed a brace, o, consisting of two arms joined together in
the nature of a toggle-joint. These braces are pivoted at each end to the side
boards, n, of the respective folding sections B C, and are each adapted when
straightened out to form a continuous bar or brace which shall be inflexible as
to end pressure, but capable of being folded sidewise. When the bed is
unfolded, these braces are straightened out in a horizontal position between
the respective folding sections B C, and thus hold said sections rigidly in
place. In folding the bed the braces are drawn out of line at their joints, and
will then easily fold up with the other portions of the folding sections are
provided with the usual legs, which may be made to resemble a portion of the
ornaments or trimmings of the desk when folded. The customary hooks or clasps
for holding the folding sections together when folded are also provided.
Then folded together, the bed
has all the appearance of an ordinary office desk, and may be used as such. The
entire desk, being attached to and forming a part of the head-section of the
bed, does not in any way interfere with the folding or unfolding of the bed,
and by the novel construction thereof the contents of the desk will be very
little deranged by the turning necessary in unfolding the bed.
Having thus described my
invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent;
l. The combination, with the
stationary section A and the folding sections B C, hinged on opposite sides of
said stationary section, of a suspended bedding-support, h, secured at each end
to the respective folding sections B C, the automatic auxiliary support E. and
the jointed braces 0, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. The combination, with the
stationary section A, folding sections B C, and head-board a, of end pieces, c
c, top board, d, and cover e, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof I hereunto
subscribe my name this 8th day of November, A. D. 1883.
SARAH E. GOODE.
